I’ve been meaning to do a review on Leonardo’s since last year! It has become one of my favorite restaurants in KL. There aren’t many restaurants in KL that serves really good pork. This was a good find!

This post includes pictures from two trips to Leonardo’s. Might make another trip sometime soon just for the molten chocolate cake. Nice and cosy ambience, perfect for a chilled and relaxing dinner.

Yeah, prices are on the steep side ;( If you do come here though, order the pork. That’s what Leonardo’s is known for.

First up, the pork balls. This is a really fun dish, like a fried meatball on a stick but a more refined version.

Chunks of pork meat and fat. You eat it like you would a meatball, but that first crunch obviously puts it heads and shoulders (and whole body) above the average meatball. It’s got a good balance of flavor, rich but not overpowering.

We had the scallop and lychee salad as well. I can’t exactly remember what it tastes like now but I remember not being disappointed with any of the dishes. Good thing is, this place is pretty consistent. Over a span of 7-8 months the quality remains at the same standard, really good stuff.

Pasta with mushrooms, bacon, chilli padi and garlic. A bacon aglio olio XD. Al dente on the noodles, all the flavors have been well absorbed and each strand is well-coated and well-seasoned. Love the little kick that the chill lends to it too!

Spanish Iberico Black Pig shoulder loin steak. As tender and juicy as you can imagine it. The meat from an Iberian black pig tends to be more tender than the regular pig and is obviously not going to be as tough. The steak is served medium done with truffle oil mash potatoes and some vegetables. Yes please do away with the notion that pork has to be well cooked to be safe for consumption. That isn’t necessarily true. An internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit is deemed safe by the USDA. So a pink middle is fine as long as the internal temperature is 145 Fahrenheit. A relief to pork eaters as we never liked tough cuts of thoroughly cooked pork either. Same concept as beef well done I suppose?

Anyway, this loin steak and the truffle mash? Yummy-licious! I’ve a dire weakness for meat and potatoes like that. Beef eaters would say I’m missing out on all the good steak and mash but I’m very content if I have this instead. Meat craving satisfied!And a glass of cloudy bay. Lovely and easy to drink. One of my favourite wines for a chilled dinner with friends. I tend to veer towards the more complicated French wines when I’m with colleagues.

And helloooo slice of heaven!

I can’t even begin… will you look at that? It’s so molten it oozed bittersweet chocolatey glaze as we dug into the cake. The vanilla ice cream was pretty good as well but I didn’t even notice cuz of the cake!!! We didn’t have to dig to deep before we hit the chocolate gold so I’d say perfect ratio of cake to molten chocolate. Neither the cake or the molten chocolate has that cloyingly overly sweet commercial vanilla note that most chocolate cakes do. They’ve hit the perfect note with bitter and sweet and rich. The outer layer of the cake is also slightly crisp which makes this dessert texturally perfect for me.

Onto the 2nd dinner at Leonardo’s. Above is the watermelon and feta cheese salad with a ball of soft mozzarella in the middle. I love soft mozzarella! Watermelon and feta cheese is pretty good too, very refreshing. But I’m not a big fan of olives so I left those alone.

Now this was a surprise! When we ordered bacon and egg we didn’t expect this succulent, tender braised pork belly at all! It just melted in our mouths. The molten egg was a delight as well. Put them both together and you have a luxuriously smooth and sexy combination melting together in your mouth. xoxo

Pork balls again! Different presentation, same delicious taste. I especially like the balsamic glaze to go with it just because I could never resist the thick black shiny sweet stuff.

And here we have the grilled pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon in garlic au jus. It was perfectly cooked and tender but I prefer the Iberico loin steak as it was more… juicy I would say. Good nonetheless. I don’t remember how the sauce tasted like as I didn’t take much of it. All the calories are in the sauce! (well, the bacon too but I’d rather meat over sauce).

Yes this was what I’ve been waiting for the whole night. My molten cake !!!! Our greedy faces. Very very satisfied indeed.

This is a long overdue post. After this I’ve got one more wine event I’d like to review, but perhaps after the truffle series ;p. Way back in June I had the opportunity to attend a wine tasting dinner in a very cosy and intimate setting (about 10 of us at most) with the owner of Château Malartic-Lagravière, Mr. Jean-Jacques Bonnie, at Bistro Soori.

We had the following wines available for us to taste:-

Château Malartic-Lagravière White

2009 & 2007

Grand Cru Classé, Graves

&

Vertical Tasting of Château Malartic-Lagravière Red

2009, 2006, 2005, 2003 & 2001

Grand Cru Classé, Graves

Little bites and wine before going into the room for dinner.

I think the above picture shows the Château Malartic-Lagravière Red 2009. It tasted of toast wood, smoke, stone and red fruit with dark, sweet berries in the nose as it is quite young. Pretty balanced wine with around 7 seconds finish. Smelt buttery after a while ;D It has been given a score of 92 by Robert Parker.

I remember having the Malarctic White 2009 as well but only remember it being dry and fruity. Not much to work with I know ;(

Wines in decanters

Wine list above, and menu below:

The scallop was paired with the White 2007. It consists of 85% Sauvignon, is straw greenish in color and more viscous than the 2009. Quite a nice wine and I preferred it to the 2009. I think the fruit taste in this wine leaned toward the more exotic fruits like pears and lemon? I like it better paired with the food rather than a standalone wine.

This red 2003 has a reddish brown colour to it and was pretty tannic. According to the owner this was a difficult vintage despite the good weather. To me it didn’t leave much of an impression to be honest, not my favorite and didn’t have much structure to it.

Beef that I couldn’t eat ;(

The red 2005 is also pretty tannic and smelt/tasted young and green. Still pretty closed at this point and full potential has yet to come out.

The Red 2006 on the other hand, while it also had the tannic astringency that I’m not too fond of, had a some mocha in the nose and spice in the palate with a medium finish. Perhaps will have to try this again in a couple of years, it didn’t seem ready yet.

I liked the red 2001. It is thicker, smoother with some toast. A pretty masculine wine with some earth, smoke, plum and jam on the palate. It is very subtle but has structure to it. My favourite of the night would have to be this one, the white 2007 and the red 2009.

I enjoyed this dinner particularly as it was very educational to talk to the owner and learn about his wines and the effort that had gone into the making of the wine. I really hope I would get the opportunity to attend more wine functions such as this one in the near future!

Another good wine dinner featuring Domaine Faiveley wines. The dinner was held at Shangrila with the following line-up of wines:

DOMAINE FAIVELEY

Whites

Bâtard-Montrachet 2009

Grand Cru Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet 2011

Grand Cru Corton-Charlemagne 2011

Premier Cru Meursault « Blagny » 2011 & 2007

Grand Cru Montrachet 2011

Reds

Grand Cru Chambertin Clos de Bèze 2011 & 2007,

Grand Cru Clos de la Roche 2009,

Grand Cru Clos de Vougeot 2011 & 2007,

Grand Cru Corton Clos des Cortons 2011 & 2000,

Grand Cru échezeaux 2011,

Premier Cru Gevrey-Chambertin Les Cazetiers 2011,

Grand Cru Latricières-Chambertin 2011 & 2008,

Grand Cru Mazis-Chambertin 2011,

Premier Cru Pommard Les Rugiens 2011 & 2007,

Premier Cru Volnay-Santenots 2007,

I started off with the Grand Cru Meursault Blagny 2011, which had light sweet fruit and clean taste. Seem to always favour Meursaults don’t I? Lol! Too much of a plain vanilla person by nature.

Next up, the Grand Cru Corton-Charlemagne 2011which had a heavier, golden toasted wood tinge to it. Somewhat buttery, however, I found it was quite a serious and dry wine.

When I saw this I really wanted to try it as we have some unopened bottles in the storage, but never tasted it before. The Grand Cru échezeaux 2011 tasted of toasty barrel and redcurrant fruit.

Above, a small taste of the Grand Cru Pommard Les Rugiens 2011. While it has dense fruit I didn’t like that it was more sour than the Echezeaux, and as well it had some licorice tints in it. Not too much of a fan of this wine.

Above, the Grand Cru Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet 2011, nice pale gold in color with toast cedar in the nose while in the palate the wine is structured with complex rich layers and a good long finish of at least 9 seconds.

Next up, the Grand Cru Corton, Clos des Cortons 2011. I know, I shouldn’t have switched back and forth between the whites and reds. Should have just done whites, followed by the reds but you must understand, there was quite a large group of people in front of the tasting table and it was difficult to go at it in sequence ;). Plus I tend to clog up the area when I take pictures as well hehhehehehe~

The Corton was deep bright red and had deliciously deep full bodied flavours with blackberries and smooth in the mouth. Reminded me a little of Ribena 0.o if that doesn’t give you enough of an idea of how amateurish I am, I will later describe another wine as tasting very much like Fanta grape 😉 Blasphemy!

At this point, dinner was almost about to start, so I rushed through another 2-3 wines and didn’t manage to take pictures of the wine in the glass.

This is the Grand Cru Clos de Vougeot 2011. I only remember the colour as being deep red, which I always like as it makes me think of good sweet fruit and depth in flavour. The wine didn’t disappoint, with what seemed like a higher concentration in fruit in the heavier berry tones, and it was sweeter and thicker than the previous wines. Some redcurrant definitely in there followed by a long finish and a nice aftertaste.

I took just a sip of the Chambertin Clos de Bèze 2011 and the Grand Cru Mazis-Chambertin 2011, which was a shame as both are really good wines to me.

Upon sipping the Mazis, I felt a the wine create a nice soaring sensation (no, its not because I was drunk, its just that the wine is one-of-a-kind 😉 with explosive flavour and sweet, rich, dark berries. One of my favorites for the night.

The Clos de Beze is heavier than mazis and also delicious. It was silky and opulent, had some raspberry overlay and mineral in it as well.

After the hurried tasting:

Dinner and wine pairing, and the list of wines for the tasting reception as well as the dinner wines.

The first two wines were both a glorious golden hue in color:

1) Bâtard-Montrachet 2009 – I got a slight shock at this on first taste, it does smacks you in the face at first impression. With its toasty nose, it was heavy and strong but like good cheese it tapers down deliciously. Slight spice, savoury and chewy all at once, even almost salty! It tasted amazing with food and went well with the shrimp; they brought out the best in each other. This gorgeous, rich and balanced wine was my favorite of the night. In fact it was one of the favourites of many people that night. I had 2 glasses of this XD

2) Grand Cru Meursault Blagny 2007 on the other hand was all chalk with mineral nose and was sweet yet savoury. Much heavier than the 2011 and complex with green fruit. After leaving it for a while, I thought that it had some caramel in the nose.

Salmon tartar with ginger crackling.

Poached shrimp that was mehh by itself was completely transformed by the Batard Montrachet 2009. It just urges you to keep on eating. No wonder I can’t seem to lose the weight!

3) Grand Cru Clos de Vougeot 2007 – floral bouquet nose and wild flowers in the mouth with a hint of pencil lead or earth I can’t tell the difference. Even felt like it was a little herb-y =p

4) Chambertin « Clos de Bèze 2007 – mellow with tannins. Smooth with a long finish. I don’t remember it being very heavy.

5)Premier Cru Latricières-Chambertin 2008 – Remember what I mentioned earlier about fanta grape? This is it! Hahahaha, I distinctly remember saying I thought it tasted like fanta grape, to my fellow diner’s horror 😉 It is in fact quite spicy with prominent grape. I didn’t like the spice so much though.

6) Grand Cru Corton Clos des Cortons 2000 had a deeper red hue in comparison with the previous three wines. Its dark red but not yet reddish brown at all. Red fruit and tannins and apparently the flagship of Faiveley. It was described as a very masculine wine that can be kept for a long time.

The mushroom risotto that I dearly wished for a bigger serving. Risotto isn’t usually my thing but this was really good. Somewhat like campbell soup XD

Notice that no. 6 was a deeper red than the no. 3? Wine glasses number 3,4, and 5 were similar in terms of colour and viscousity.

Sage roasted chicken breast, which was also very good. Nice and tender and the ricotta stuffed squash blossom fritters were light and tasty. Never imagined them to complement each other so well!

And now the dark horse:

Grand Cru Clos de la Roche 2009, the unnumbered glass. Not all the wines listed in the dinner wines were served, so we could request a glass of whatever wine from the list that we’d like to try. Again, I had 2 glasses of this.

Another fantastic wine, opulent and sweet with cherry in the nose. A very smooth, meaty wine, I much preferred this to the Clos des Cortons. Another favourite for the night!

To summarize, these were the outstanding wines for the night: The Mazis Chambertin 2011, Batard Montrachet 2009 and the Clos de la Roche 2009

I attended a wine tasting dinner the other day featuring one of the biggest Burgundy Domaines: Bouchard Père & Fils. Here’s the list of wines that we tried that night, though regrettably I couldn’t finish tasting all of them =(

As you can see, there were vertical tastings for several of the wines, I couldn’t possibly finish tasting them all right? =p

So I went, for my own education and for the delicious wine. Whatever opinion I may put down on this blog, it is of my very very beginner level wine learner’s not-so-humble opinion. It is not a replacement for professional tasting notes whatsoever.

At the reception before the dinner, they lined up bottles of some of the reds and whites as listed above. The rest would be savoured with dinner.

I started off with a Mersault Genevrieres 2011. It came to be one of my favourites of the evening.

The wine colour is not so golden, more of a pale lemon colour and has a nice soft, floral nose. Smooth on the tongue and complex, it tastes light, fruity and fresh and has a nice long finish. Actually the ones I actually tried to time had a pretty long finish, all 6 seconds and above. I forgot which ones but the selection that night was really good so it doesn’t matter to me.

And so, after pouring away (to my regret) the excess wine, I moved on to the second wine in line; the Corton Charlemagne 2009 and was slightly taken aback by the taste, coming from the floral Meursault.

I tasted the 2009 and 2010 bottles. Both wines are complex, and befuddled me at first. I can’t truly do justice to these, though I could have understood them better if I stayed a while longer to slowly figure out the different tastes. The 2009 had minerals, slight oak nose as well as in taste, not as much fruit as the Merseault but more of… stone? Lol if that made any sense at all. 2010 had a stronger smoky nose and it was apparent while drinking as well. Slightly heavier, minerals and not overly acidic but I don’t think its ready to drink yet.

Nice light straw colour to it.

Next up, the heavyweights: Chevalier Montrachet. Tried the 2011 bottle and I remember it was delicious. Had some floral and citrus notes to it and it was pleasing to drink. However I preferred the next bottle, the Chevalier Montrachet La Cabotte 2011.

It was outstanding!

It was richer, grander and had hints of butter and citrus flavours that last long after you’ve swallowed the lot. Good fruity perfume on the nose and a gorgeous full bodied mouthful. Very good indeed.

By this time I was already flushed and hot, even before dinner! And I couldn’t try the reds that were lined up there =( which was such a waste.

Judging by the number of glasses lined up at the dining table for each person, I think it was a good idea to have stopped myself from the red wines at the tasting table! There were 10 glasses for each of us! Not including the water glass.

Started off with a smoked salmon appetizer.

Here, they had already poured the Meursault Les Perrieres 2006, which tasted a little young but pretty balanced, clean and sharp. Also some fruit in the palate, but surprisingly after I went the whole round of whites and reds and back to this glass, it tasted a little like barley. Strange. Not bad though.

Maine lobster salad with avocado and chardonnay vinaigrette.

I don’t have a picture of it but I also tried the Corton Charlemagne 2003, which was a tad buttery and a hint of citrus/lemon. Again, similar to the other Cortons, there’s the inevitable toasted oak on nose and palate as well as minerals. Not too fond of these attributes in all the Cortons, although the toasted oak was much more subtle in this one than the other two. I’m just more of a fruity person XD

Another white wine that I tried with no picture: the Chevalier Montrachet 2008 had apparent toasty cedar oak notes and minerals to it. I mistook this for the Corton at first.

And then came the reds. We started with the Le Corton 2009 (Number 3). This seemed a little light, not as much concentration of fruit as I would have liked but it makes for a delicate wine. Slightly peppery, a little herbs and minerals with toasted oak aftertaste. The colour is also pretty transient.

Next was the Beaune Greves 2009 (Number 4) This was one of my favourites as well despite the light red of it. Red fruit and sweet but still balanced by the acidity. Smooth and even a little bit minty. It made for an easy drink.

Number 5, the Volnay Caillerets Ancienne Cuvée Carnot 2009, Premier Cru, was a nice dark red color. Rich, sweet and silky with cherry notes and long finish. It was served alongside the Number 4 Corton with the Welsh lamb shoulder that was cooked for 36 hours, which was also surprisingly good and tender. I love red wines that go well with red meats.

Here are the wines numbered 1-4. I can’t remember which is 1 and 2 as I’m confused between the Montrachet and the Corton. Have to check the names again.

Glass number 3 is La Corton 2009 and number 4 is the Beaune Greves 2009. Notice that number 4 has a deeper colour to it than number 3.

Wines numbered 5-8

No. 5 is the Volnay 2009

No. 6, Chapelle-Chambertin 2008; Of acid and tannins and slightly spicy with 6 seconds finish in the mouth. It seemed pretty structured with what I think was bouquet in the nose. I could be way off the mark 😉 That is the mark of an amateur.

No. 7, Charmes-Chambertin 2010; Had purity of fruit, as did the Chapelle Chambertin (according to the expert present, though I have absolutely no idea what that is supposed to taste like), and seemed delicate but yet complex with long finish as well. I guess most of these wines here are really good that most if not all have a nice long finish. Its probably good to wait a few years before it would make a good drink.

No. 8, Nuit Saint Georges Clos Saint Marc 2005, Acid and tannic with plum and spice. I’m not sure if I like the spiciness in a wine.

No. 9, Beaune Greves Vigne de l’Enfant Jesus 2003, had more depth, darker in color and was more full bodied than the 2009 vintage. Fruit and bouquet in the nose, a nice smooth drink that tasted of berries and again, the deep full bodied, meaty flavour to it that makes it perfect for pairing with meats. This can keep for many more years and is also one of my favourites of the night.

I love lining them up side by side so I can compare the differences in colour of the different wines.

One of my targets this new year is to learn more about red wines. I should go to more wine events if I want to do this as I can’t just read and understand what “layers of wood and fruity deep flavours” mean -___-“. I’ve got to taste it for myself and slowly figure out the differences between the different wines and pray I don’t get drunk in the process.

The menu and wine pairings at the DRC dinner organized by FICOFI.

I like how they lined up the wine glasses in order of consumption as the meal goes on into the night.

So firstly, the Vin de l’Abbaye Saint Vivant 2009, Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, bottled by Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.

I didn’t particularly like it. It seemed unfinished and smelled of gasoline to me. Perhaps its my infinitely amateur tastebuds.

The scallop and caviar that was paired with it however, was delicious. Perfectly cooked scallop on the outside, creamy insides and topped off with plump caviar.

The Corton, Grand Cru DRC 2009 (red wine on the left in the picture above) was good, and suitable for everyday drinking. I’m going to lift an opinion from Christer Byklum in “the tastingbook” on this wine. Hope this is ok?

“Pale ruby, pinkish rim. Floral, pure strawberries and a whiff of herbs. Ever so slightly spicy. Minerals and some vanilla. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, pure and racy, lacks the Corton roughness. Elegant but a slightly biting texture far back that needs some polishing in the cellar. Long finish.”

It was paired with the foie gras and black truffle dish as pictured below.

Next, the Echezeaux, Grand Cru DRC 1989 and Grands Echezeaux, Grand Cru DRC 1989 from Burgundy. I found the basic taste of the two wines is similar with the Grands being more pronounced, deep and concentrated in comparison with the former.I should think that it goes really well with red meat or heavy flavors as it smells and tastes fruity. And a slight hint of spice while the texture is slippery if that makes any sense.

It was paired with an egg and black truffle dish. Pretty surprising and absolutely sublime, the egg yolk is a molten gold nestled in the frothy egg white, surrounded by a thick creamy wild mushroom-like soup, topped off with some croutons and a shaving of black truffle.

Look at the baby run!

Next, another two red wines. I noticed just now that the wines got better and better as we followed the order of wines. There was a La Tache, Grand Cru, DRC 2000 and Romanee Saint Vivant, Grand Cru DRC 2006, both from Burgundy. The La Tache was one of the favorites of the table. I thought it was “spiky” in my mouth and had attitude to it, while the Romanee Saint Vivant was more fruity and mellow in comparison. Both to me were surprisingly good.

The wines were paired with scampi and a black truffle emulsion. Delicately fried thing at the side (I forgot what it was) and the tender scampi in the rich truffle sauce.

And finally came the crowning wines, the Richebourg, Grand Cru DRC 2000 from Burgundy and the Romanee Conti, Grand Cru DRC 2000. The Richebourg was deep, fruity, and rich. It felt firm and warm (yes by now I’m not making sense but it did feel warm, and I don’t mean that I was drunk). The Romanee Conti tasted pretty intense, and spicy with some hint of cherry. Also warming =D

Its a pity the servers spilled the Romanee Conti =(. You can see the wine staining the label.

It was paired with what looked like boiled chicken and winter vegetables. I had anticipated the chicken to be bland, tasteless and tough but to my amazement, not only was it so tender, it was also creamy! Without addition of sauce whatsoever. And the generous shavings of truffle made it all the better.

We finished off dinner with Jeroboam of Chateau D’Yquem 1996, a sweet dessert white wine.

Was out with some of my secondary school friends from Queensway. Caught up and had a good time, even took some belated graduation shots (perhaps 3 years after my actual graduation), but most of them have just graduated. Thus we all donned our graduation hats and capes (all from different Universities) and went crazy in Esplanade and took pictures outside the Esplanade as well with the newly built Marina Bay Sands looming in the background. It was a typical Singaporean sunny day. Hot and humid with the sun beating down. We all trooped into Esplanade and decided to try this place called “The cookie museum”. I opted for the Oreo Baileys milkshake and was shocked when I saw the price. Probably SGD 18 for a milkshake. It was good but not worth the price.

It can be easily replicated at home too. The only thing that will hurt your pocket is the Baileys Irish Cream liquor. The 37.5 cl bottle could set you back SGD 37, but you only need about a capful or two in each milkshake.

Add in the fresh milk and Baileys irish cream and give it another quick blend

Top with some crushed ice. By now you have an idea of how much liquid there is in the blender and how much your cup will be able to hold. Add more ice and milk if needed. The crushed ice adds volume and thickens up the shake without need for too much ice cream. Blitz the crushed ice to incorporate with the other ingredients so that it thickens.

Pour the mixture into a tall glass, spray some whipping cream over the top, sprinkle with chocolate flakes and stick in the sprig of mint at the side of the glass (I forgot to buy it so I didn’t get to use it this time around).